Those Dratted Magical Doors
by macawtopia
Summary: When Ginny went to Ron and Hermione's engagement, she completely expected it to be a long and tedious affair spent with her many family members. What she didn't expect was to bump into a Malfoy, and she certainly didn't foresee what happened after that…
1. You want to invite WHO?

*Note* this story used to be a oneshot, and I've not really changed it. I've only broken it up into three shorter chapters, because it's works better that way [at least, I_ think_ it does =]

Well, this is my first attempt at a Drinny story, so I hope you enjoy reading it! And please do remember to review =]

***

"What do you _mean_ you haven't finished making the guest list yet?!? Our engagement party is in _less than_ _a month now_!!!"

"But-"

"Don't you 'but' _me _Ronald Weasley!"

Ron gulped and took a big step back from his raging fiancé in trepidation, because although it was a beautiful and calm summer's morning in the front yard of the Burrow, she was looking anything _but_ tranquil. Her eyes were blazing with anger, and her already bushy hair was practically frizzling with fury.

Swallowing hard, Ron said, "Look Hermione, the engagement's only _one day_ less than a month from now, and we practically already _know _who's coming; my family, your family, our friends... and everyone who helped us defeat Voldemort." Ron mumbled the last bit of his sentence quickly, in the hopes that Hermione wouldn't hear him. She did.

"What!?!" Hermione exclaimed, advancing on Ron, "_Everyone _who helped us defeat Voldemort? Why in the name of Merlin would we do that? Do you have any idea _how many_ –"

"It was Harry's idea!" Ron hastily cut in before she could finish her sentence.

Hermione huffed, "Harry's idea? I should have known." Then she let out a loud sigh and took Ron's hand, pulling him back to the crooked entrance of the Burrow muttering, "Come on _darling_, I think we need to have a word with _dear_ Harry."

Hermione dragged Ron into the house and through the bustling kitchen, where George and Ginny sniggered at his frightened expression. Then she pulled him into the dining room where Harry was just finishing his breakfast. He took one look at his two best friends and knew he was in for trouble, "G'morning Ron, Hermione."

Hermione addressed him in a falsely sweet and formal voice saying, "Good morning Harry. How are you?"

Harry shrugged, "I'm alright… no better or worse than I was when you saw me yesterday really."

Harry chuckled, and Ron, who had been signaling his friend to keep him from saying anything that would further aggravate Hermione, smacked himself in the forehead.

"Really?" Hermione seethed, "Good for you. Yes, very good for you because you were in a _spectacular_ mood yesterday."

"I was?"

"Well you must have been, because you decided that it was necessary to invite the _entire ruddy planet_ to our engagement. What could _possibly_ have given you that idea?"

Harry shrugged and tried to look nonchalant, but when Hermione continued to stare him down, he confessed, "Look, do you remember how I got promoted as a head Auror last month? Well one of my new responsibilities is to hold a party of recognition for those who fought in the war…and I kind of figured that it would be a good idea to just invite them all to your engagement since most of them are your friends anyways…"

Ron nodded in agreement, and started to say that it was a good idea, but then he saw the look on Hermione's face. "Harry, this is my engagement you're talking about!" she shrieked, "Not just some _party_! I don't want people whom I've never even _met_ showing up there!"

"Don't worry, I'll only invite people you know." Harry reassured her, "But could we also have a few members of the Order give a few short speeches on the war? Please?"

Hermione could see that her friend was determined to have his way, so she grudgingly allowed him to hold his recognition party at her engagement. So, a couple of minutes later, they were sitting at the kitchen table, busy compiling a guest list.

"Aberforth?"

"Must we? I mean he was lovely and helpful…but the man was sent to Azkaban for messing with goats for Merlin's sake!"

"Hermione, he _saved_ us!"

"Oh_, fine_."

"Slughorn?"

"I suppose we should."

"Malfoy?"

"Ugh, fine- Wait, what!?!"

Harry looked up from the list he had been writing, "I said Malfoy."

Hermione glared, "I know, I heard you…but come on Harry…Malfoy?"

Harry shrugged, "Look, we may not be good friends with the bloke, but in the end he was a good person. And when his father died he donated _loads _of money to the Aurors."

Ron, who was slowly turning a dark shade of fuchsia said, "Harry, I will _not_ invite that _bloody ferret_ to my engagement."

"But he's a good person?"

Hermione sighed, "Who are you trying to fool, Harry? You hate him as much as we do, so _why _do you want to invite him?"

Once again Harry found himself confessing, saying, "Alright _fine_. I admit it. The head of the Auror's department insisted that he be invited because of the money he gave us. So could you please, _please_ just invite him? Besides, what are the odds he'll actually come?"

Harry's argument made sense, so Hermione wrote the name _Malfoy_ down on the guest list.

The invitations were sent away via a peck of owls later that day, and the fact that Draco Malfoy had been invited was soon all but forgotten.

***

Alright, I know that there's been remarkably little Drinny interaction so far, but the next two chapters are full of it =]


	2. Stuck

Alright, now we're at the engagement...

***

Ginny Weasley's face felt so sore from smiling, that she was worried she wouldn't be able to move it for days after.

So far she had been forced to beam politely at all of her crazy family members, as well as at the Granger's and a large collection of people whom she didn't and didn't particularly want to know. And the engagement party had only just begun. Ginny still had a good five hours of smiling to survive, and she wasn't sure whether or not she'd make it.

She glanced around the wedding tent desperately for a familiar face, but saw no one whom she particularly wanted to talk to. The tent itself was a pattern of dark red, cream and gold, swirling intricately with gold stars speckled on top. Adorned with golden flowers on the stands and in the corners, it looked beautiful, but it couldn't keep Ginny company.

The trio, of course, were all occupied, and Ginny could hardly get close to them. Ron and Hermione were the centre of attention, and they were receiving congratulations and compliments from all around. Even Ginny had to admit that they looked very good together; happy and in love, and if Ron weren't her older brother, she might have even said that he looked handsome. Not that Ginny could get anywhere near him at the moment.

And as for Harry…he was _the_ Harry Potter. Enough said.

Many of the guests had come just to ogle at the Boy Who Lived, and he, for his part, was just trying to get away from them all and celebrate with his friends. Idly, Ginny remembered that there was a time when she would have liked nothing better than to rescue him by whisking him away to the attic of the Burrow and spending some time there alone with him…but those days were gone. He was just a friend to her now.

No, more than a friend…he was like a brother who loved her and who knew her better than anyone. Only, he was slightly closer to her than her other brothers.

Just then Ginny's reverie was broken by the sound of her Aunt Muriel approaching her, and as Ginny was not in the mood for a lecture on her unladylike manners, she quickly bowed out of the tent and into the Burrow to see if her mother needed any help in the kitchen.

"Ginny dear!" Molly exclaimed when she saw her daughter, "Why aren't you at the party?"

"I just wanted to check if you needed any help with the food."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm fine by myself! But…"

"Yes?" Ginny prompted. Her mother was beaming, but Ginny couldn't help but notice that she was looking slightly overworked.

"You _could _go to the storeroom upstairs and fetch a few bottles of Butterbeer, we're running low. I left the door unlocked, but do be careful because –"

"I know, I know mum, the door magically locks. Don't worry, I know better than to mess with _that_ door. I'll be right back."

Ginny took her leave and headed up the wood hewn stairs of her house to the attic. As she climbed she noticed a loose thread on the dress she was wearing and frowned.

It was her favourite dress; a deep red velvet cocktail dress which complimented her hair rather than clashing with it. And although it was a beautiful dress, it was a hand-me-down from her cousin, so it wasn't in the best shape.

Sighing, Ginny yanked the thread out and continued up the twisted stairs to the attic door.

Then, as she turned the plain brass doorknob and pushed it open, she was instantly hit by the aroma of her attic; a blend of her mother's old perfume, old robes, the lingering scent of the ghoul who had finally been exterminated months ago and dust. But these scents weren't what struck Ginny as odd. No, as she walked into the loft and stepped carefully over the mounds of boxes which filled it, her sensitive nose caught a cool musk which she had smelled before…but it certainly had never been in her attic.

Ginny ignored it, and after navigating her way through the maze of old junk, she finally reached the door to the storeroom. True to her mother's word, it had been left unlocked, so Ginny threw it open and hurried inside. Unfortunately, in her rush, Ginny failed to notice that there was a person standing just inside the room, right in front of her, and she bumped into him, _hard_. So hard, that upon contact Ginny fell back against the storeroom door, slamming it shut. "Ooof!"

As Ginny rubbed her now sore head, she looked up and recognized the person who was turning to face her with a start. He was the absolute last person she would ever have expected to find in her attic, or her house for that matter, and for a moment she just stared at him blankly in shock.

He had platinum blond hair, aristocratic features, deep green velvet robes and even deeper grey eyes. Currently, he was using those eyes to glare at her in a most annoyed fashion.

"Malfoy?"

The young man, who was indeed Malfoy smirked at her, "Very good Weasley! But don't expect a treat for your miraculous exertion of brainpower, because I haven't got one."

Ginny, who was still too shocked to bother making a clever retort merely asked, "What are you _doing_ here?"

She took a glance around the small and rather dingy storeroom, and noted that all it contained was a little table and small rack for butterbeer, firewhisky and oak matured mead. Hardy anything which a Malfoy would find inviting.

"What am _I_ doing here? Well, _I'm_ attending an engagement. What are _you _doing here?" Malfoy asked in his trademark drawl.

Ginny had never been tolerant to drawling, _especially_ when it was being directed at her. And although she didn't _personally _hate Malfoy – she didn't know him well enough for that - she had heard enough from Harry, Ron and Hermione to know that he was a detestable person. So she changed her manner accordingly, "You know what I meant, _Malfoy_. Why are you in my attic?"

If he noticed her hostility, he didn't show it. "_You_r attic? I was under the impression that it was the family attic."

Ginny scowled as he continued to smirk at her, "Oh whatever, why are _you_ in it?"

Rasing an amused eyebrow, Malfoy said, "Am I not welcome in it, Weasel? Sorry for intruding, I'll just be on my way." And with that, he turned to leave.

And that could have been the end of it. That could have ended the longest conversation Ginny had ever had with him. But then she started to feel guilty for groundlessly banishing Malfoy from the attic, and more puzzled than ever about what he had been doing there in the first place. Surely it hadn't been anything evil…

"Wait, Malfoy, don't go." He slowly turned to face her, and she continued, "I was just curious, and can you blame me? All I usually find up here is old boxes and rats."

He let out an obliging sigh, "Well, if you _must _know, Weasley, I came up here because your father asked me to fetch some butterbeer for the party."

It was then Ginny's turn to raise an eyebrow, "Really? You never seemed the type for taking orders."

"I do _not_ take orders." Malfoy growled with his eyes glinting, "I was just looking for an excuse to get out of that tent!"

That took Ginny completely by surprise. She was usually a good judge of character, but she honestly didn't know what to make of the man; why would he leave an extravagant party to go to her attic? "Why?"

"Not that it's any of your business, Weasel, but most of the people in there weren't exactly thrilled to see me. Most of them were glaring at me the way you just were, actually."

"I wasn't glaring!"

Malfoy merely shrugged, "Alright, you weren't. Now, if you don't mind, I think that this conversation's lasted long enough." And with that, he abruptly turned on his heel and pulled the handle of the storeroom door…but it didn't open. He gave it another mighty tug, but it still didn't budge. "What the heck?"

When Ginny saw this, she swore loudly. Then, reluctantly, she admitted, "We're... we're stuck Malfoy."

He whirled on her, and fixed her with his steely gaze, "_What_ did you say?"

Ginny sighed, "We're stuck. My mum enchanted this room to keep it off limits to my brothers, so they wouldn't finish off all of the butterbeer. Which means that the door magically locks when you close it."

***

And so it begins...Please R&R =]


	3. The L word

Ginny sighed, "We're stuck. My mum enchanted this room to keep it off limits to my brothers, so they wouldn't finish off all of the butterbeer. Which means that the door magically locks when you close it."

Malfoy blinked. Then he spun around again and aimed his wand at the door bellowing "Alohomora!"

When nothing happened he tried to apparate, but all he managed to do was nearly fall over. Looking increasingly irritated and slightly worried, Malfoy then tried a variety of destructive spells on the locked door, "Bombarda Maxima! Reducto! Incendio!"

The door remained impervious, and Ginny sighed again, "Stop trying to demolish my house, will you? My mum kept this room off limits to _my_ brothers. You know, _including_ Fred and George? We're stuck."

Her words only made Malfoy angrier than he had been before, "WHAT!! Weasel, I knew that you lot were thick, but this is _too much_. There must be _some_ way of opening this door or else the room would be pointless."

Now Ginny was getting mad as well. What right did _he_ have to talk to her that way? "Look, the door only opens from the _outside_ you dolt! You need a password. Only my mother knows it."

Malfoy pulled out his wand and made an angry advance towards Ginny, but then he appeared to think better of it. Stowing his wand and breathing deeply to calm himself, he said, "Alright then, Weasley, let's look at our options. You could use a Sonorous charm to call your mother for help –"

"NO!"

Ginny surprised even herself with the outburst, but she couldn't bear to call her mother. She had told her mum that she would be careful and then she had gone and locked herself in the storeroom anyways. It was a complete replay of her eleventh birthday, and it still pained her to remember how long it had taken for her mother to figure out that she was stuck in the attic that time.

"Calling my mother would be absolutely _mortifying_…and moreover the loud noise would _ruin_ the engagement! Besides, could you imagine the look on my mother's face when she found me locked in here with _you_?"

Malfoy pretended to look pensive,"Mmmm…yes! And as far as ruining the engagement goes, who really cares?"

"People with_ hearts_, that's who, _Malfoy_."

"So you're saying that - because of your _heart_ – you'd rather stay locked in here with me than ruin the engagement?"

"Yes!" Ginny exclaimed loudly. Then she saw Malfoy arch an eyebrow questioningly and realized what she had just said. "Oh, you know what I meant, ferret!"

"Really?"

Ginny made a disgusted face, "Never mind. I suppose I couldn't expect someone like _you_ to understand the beauty of committing yourself to another person. Engagements could never mean anything to _you_."

To Ginny's surprise, her harsh words caused Malfoy to sigh and look genuinely weary. Taking a seat on the low wooden table – the only proper furniture in the room- he looked at the ceiling and groaned, "Why does everyone always assume that I'm a player?"

"Er, because you _are_?"

Malfoy glared at her, "Look Weasley, I may have had a few affairs with Parkinson and Greengrass, but that was it. And neither of them were right for me. Parkinson loved my _account at Gringotts_, not me."

Ginny almost winced at that. Being from a poor family she couldn't imagine what it was like having people use her for money, but she knew that it couldn't be a nice feeling. So, she softly sat down on the table beside Malfoy and asked, "And Daphne?"

Draco turned his face away from her inquiring eyes, and considered lying to her. But for some strange, inexplicable reason he found himself telling her the humiliating truth. "I…I caught Greengrass kissing some other bloke at Diagon Alley about a month ago."

Ginny couldn't believe how casually he was discussing this. Had it been her, she would _never_ have been able to talk about it, let alone with a person she hardly knew. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

Draco had expected her to say something along those lines (She_ was _a Gryffindor after all, she had to uphold their good reputation), but what he hadn't foreseen was the genuine tone she would say it with. She actually sounded sorry for him. "Don't be, she's not worth it", he said in a low voice. Then he added, "I'm glad to be rid of her, quite honestly."

"But you two had been together for months!" Ginny could see that Draco was far more upset about Daphne than he was letting on, and so she tried to get him to show the emotion which he was clearly bottling up. It didn't work.

"So? You and Potter had been together for practically forever, and _you_ split up."

Ginny blushed a deep crimson, "How did you find out about that? We've hardly told anyone!"

Draco shrugged, "It wasn't hard to figure out. One look at you was all it took."

When Ginny raised her eyebrows at him in surprise, Draco shrugged, "When you liked him, you looked at him as if he were a demi-god or something. What happened?"

"None of your business, ferret." Ginny snapped.

_Ouch, __that__ one hurt. Well done, Draco, not only have you gotten yourself locked in the Weasley attic, you've also gotten the only company up here mad at you. _

"Sorry, I was just curious." Draco said quietly. And although he felt that he would rather be forced to work as a _house elf_ for the rest of his life than admit it, her words had hurt him. He had just told her his most _personal _secrets, and she was still treating him like vermin.

Apparently Ginny realized that too, and she quickly repented saying, "No, I'm sorry, it's not you, it's just…when Harry got back from defeating Voldemort everything was different. He had changed…and so had I, and we sort of fell apart. We're still really close though, and sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if he had never left… and I don't know why I'm telling you this…I haven't even told Ron and Hermione what happened yet."

Ginny looked slightly dejected, so Draco gave her a small smile, "It's alright, I know what you mean. The war changed everything."

Ginny was surprised by Draco's melancholy tone. Both surprised and disgusted. "How could the war have possibly been a bad thing for _you_? I thought you always wanted Voldemort to rise to power again?"

"What!?!" Draco was flabbergasted. How could _anyone _want... but then he remembered that he _had_, and his expression became more reflective. "Actually, I suppose you're right. When I was younger, I _did_ want that because my parents told me that _they_ did. And I was actually _proud_ to serve him when he did come back. I actually thought that I was doing the right thing."

Draco paused and turned to look at Ginny, fully expecting her to look either livid or revolted. But she only came across as pensive, so he pressed on, "But you know what Weasley? Even _I_ wasn't stupid enough to believe that after awhile. There did come a point when I realized…'I'm on the wrong side'. The dark side, the _evil_ side which causes only death and destruction. But even after I realized that, I couldn't do anything."

"Yes you could have!" Ginny burst out passionately, her brown eyes boring into Draco's, "You could have come to our side and fought for what was right!" All of a sudden she found herself wanting to turn Draco around. She wanted to bring him to the good side, _her_ side and keep him there.

But Draco only sighed at her enthusiasm; there was so much she didn't understand. There was much more than just right and wrong in the world, and sometimes doing the right thing meant doing something wrong. "No, I _couldn't_ have Ginny. Joining you would have meant betraying my friends, family; _everyone_ I cared about…and yes, I _do_ actually care for them. If I turned on them I'd have lost them forever, but I couldn't exactly join them in their crusade for evil either. I couldn't relate to or confide in _anyone_…I was completely alone. You can't imagine what it was like."

_Why are you telling her this! What the diddle is wrong with you Draco? She doesn't care about your pathetic life story, so stop boring her with it!_

_Oh, I wish I could…if __only__ she wasn't so easy to talk to… if __only__ she'd stop looking at me like that with those big brown eyes…_

Ginny gently placed a hand on Draco's shoulder, "Yes, I think I can. You see, _I_ was all alone during the war as well. The trio was off saving the world and I couldn't do a _bloody_ thing to help them. I felt so…_useless_." Ginny awkwardly removed her hand from his shoulder and looked away.

Once more Draco found himself completely at a loss. From the little he had known about Ginny, she was very popular with the girls (and boys) in her year, she was nuts about Potter and she was extremely confidant. But in their present conversation she had shown no signs of being Potter's puppet, and she had just admitted to feeling lonely_ and_ useless while at Hogwarts. Where was that annoying chit Draco had always seen her as?

"You weren't useless! I mean, you started up that DA group and rallied the students in the Room of Req -."

"You knew about that?!?" Ginny looked shocked, "Then why didn't you –"

"Rat you out?" Draco gave her a smile, "Didn't I tell you? I knew that you were on the right side. Besides I was jealous of you."

_Please,__ please__ tell me I didn't just say that to her…_

"Jealous?"

"You could fight for what you believed in freely." Draco said quietly, "I didn't have that luxury."

Ginny was silent, and she gazed at Draco thoughtfully. She was looking at him in a way that made Draco's heart flutter uncomfortably, and he suddenly found himself wishing that he had worn a nicer set of robes, and that he had checked his appearance in the mirror once before coming. He also felt an insane urge to hold Ginny close. This strange sensation was entirely new to him, and although he wished it would stop, he didn't want her to stop looking at him that way. Finally Draco couldn't stand the silence any longer and asked, "What is it?"

Ginny gave him a small but genuine smile, and Draco absentmindedly noticed how very pretty her smile was. Then she said, "I was wrong about you Draco. That's all. You aren't the cowardly arrogant git that the trio would have led me to believe you were."

Draco laughed, and Ginny felt pleased with herself for causing him to make the lovely sound. She had never heard him laugh properly before, without that mocking edge in his tone, and hearing him now made her wish that he laughed more often.

Besides, he really did look handsome when he wasn't wearing his customary sneer. Then Draco stopped laughing and said, "_Thank you_ Ginny, I'm flattered. And you're not the brainless does-whatever-Potter-says girl whom I thought _you_ were either."

"_Hey_! I do _not_ do whatever Harry tells me to! He is so protective that he wouldn't let me do _anything_! He didn't let me go with him to stop Voldemort, he wouldn't have wanted me to steal the sword of Gryffindor, and he definitely wouldn't have wanted me to do _this_ either."

Draco raised an eyebrow, looking confused, "Do wha-"

But he was cut off by Ginny leaning in and pressing her mouth softly to his. The kiss only lasted for one beautiful moment, and then Ginny pulled back and looked at Draco, anxiously awaiting his response.

At first Draco was too stunned to speak, and then in a slightly frazzled tone he said, "Oh. _That_. No, he definitely wouldn't have wanted you to do _that_."

"Yeah…"

Draco noticed that Ginny was looking very uncomfortable, so he grinned at her suggestively, "But that doesn't mean that _I_ don't want you to do it."

And with that Draco took her face in his hands and leaned in to continue the kiss which had been so abruptly halted. Unfortunately for him, the door to the storeroom slammed open right before he could make contact.

"Ginny, _how_ many times have I told you to be careful with this do– WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN'S RUDDY PET_ RABBIT_ IS GOING ON HERE?!?"

Ginny leapt to her feet, and Draco instinctively jumped behind her. He could tell by the livid expression of the red faced Weasley mom that they had some _serious _explaining to do…but he also knew that for some unfathomable reason, he could relate to the Weasley girl – to Ginny – in a way that was more intimate and wonderful than anything he'd ever felt before. In fact, he felt so strongly about her that he almost felt tempted describe his emotions with that dreaded _L_-word.

And _that_ was more than worth facing her mad mother any day.

***

The End =]


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